>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are the stories that we're following for you. investigators were sent in to interview train operators to see what caused a deadly derailment in new york city. the white house said that it's s successful with healthcare.gov it is cyber monday. crews are up righting toppled

rail cars as searchers looking for what caused the derailment from new york city. dozens of people were hurt. and the accident is having an huge impact on one of the nation's biggiest commuter rail line. john terrett is in the bronx where they are trai the train c. >> reporter: we're seeing significant progress in righting the derailed train cars. i'll stand aside so our cameraman can go right in so you can see what happened over 24 hours since the accident that killed four people, injured 63, 11 of them seriously. as the second railcar which we think is the four who died were sitting, and most of the injured. and as far as we can tell from

our vantage point here those are the only two carriages from yesterday's crashed train which remains off the rails. the others have been righted, according to the ntsb, including the diesel itself, that was put back on the rails in the very early hours of this morning when it was still dark. let's take a look back now at the events that unfolded here and the immediate aftermath of them going back the last 24 hours. >> it was going fast. as it hit the curve was flying. >> reporter: the train was 20 minutes from its destination, new york's grand central station when in an instance the car came off its tracks and landed down hill, just inches from the hudson river. >> there were people screaming, crying out to god, asking for their families. >> reporter: three of the four who died were ejected from the train. another 60 people were injured. >> we have evidence of people

under a couple of cars, so we actually used airbags to lift the car. >> reporter: for residents living along the route there was no mistaking what was happening. >> it sounded like a plane crash that just kept going on and on, that buckling sound of the train cars hitting each other an going on. >> reporter: amany were shocked that the thanksgiving holiday ended in such a tragic way. >> i saw a dead body. they covered it with a white sheet. and then--it's just breathtaki breathtaking. >> reporter: the search included cadaver dogs and divers, all passengers and crew members were accounted for. the injured, many who were flipped and tossed inside the train cars from taken to nearby hotels. the safety board has begun the meticulous task of determining what went on. >> we don't know what the train speed was, and incidentally we

have recovered the event recorder off the cab car. >> reporter: the investigation will focus on the train's operator, who was injured as well. officials from the metropolitan transit authority reported the operator said the train was going for a fast into the turn and he performed an emergency braking maneuver known as dumping, a last resort used in catastrophic circumstances. but new york's governor andrew cuomo is not so quick to blame the curve. >> trains take the curve 365 days a year. it has to be another factor. >> reporter: by into the fall the crews had install flood lights and gun the process of removing the crippled trains and repairing the tracks. a job that could continue well into today. disrupting the commute for thousands of passengers while others come to grips with how a simple early morning train ride could go so terribly wrong.

>> there is no reason why someone coming home from the holiday should be dead. there is no reason for it. >> of course, it's that simple early morning train ride come something soon after the national holiday of thanksgiving. we just heard from the ntsb. they're going to hold a news conference at 4:00 in which they'll you will date everyone on the course they've made over the day. the lasting legacy for those of us who are not directly affected by the tragedy or survived it is the travel chaos. this line carries 26,000 people every day, the hudson line part of the metro north rail network. it's completely closed and passengers coming in from the north of the state today it if they came in at all, have been getting off the train at yonkers and bussed over to the 242nd street subway station. then getting into central

manhattan by the subway. that's the latest news from the scene. >> john, we're going to get into the commute a little bit more now. the metro north railroad is the second busier commuter railroad in the united states. overerouting thousands of custos is no easy task. that's why jennifer glass is, tracking the delays. obviously many have had a difficult time getting to work today. what alternatives are there for commuters? >> reporter: that's right, good morning, stephanie. a difficult, difficult commute on an already busy day here at grand central terminal. train times that would normally take 20 minutes are taking an hour and a half because travelers have to go from here on a shuttle to time square and then they go up to 242nd street where there are shuttle buss that take them to the train at

yonkers to take them on to their did destination. a very complicated long travel adding to commutes that are already long for some commutes. we saw frustrated commuters trying to get to work. some deciding it wasn't worth it, and they decided to telecommute. we're seeing many travelers are taking it in their stride. >> i think we're getting back on a subway to a train to a bus to another train. a small price to pay for what other people are going through. we don't mind. >> yes, so many people now, now that the rush hour is over, they think it will take an hourer hour and a half hour longer to get where they're going. but they understand the seriousness of the situation. >> and it could take a while for that northline and the latest

from grand central station. the national transportation board is investigating the cause of the crash. lisa stark is in washington with that side of the story. what is the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: good morning p they tell me that they plan to interview the operator of this train this afternoon. he was injured in the crash. he is in the hospital, but they plan to talk to him about what happened in moments before the train went off the rail. the operator was drug and alcohol tested. we don't know the results of those tests. also they have subpoenaed his cell phone records. this has become a standard procedure after accidents likes these. the question is was that operator texting or talking on his phone when he shouldn't have been, when he should have been driving the train. they'll take a close look at those cell phone records. the trains involved in this

accident were older rail cars. thethe ntsb continues its investigation. it will be on scene for 7 to 10 days working up the final investigation many months after that. stephanie? >> okay, lisa stark with the latest on the investigation. from washington, thank you. well, turning now to weather which is impacting travel conditions across many parts of the country. we have more, dave. >> meteorologist: good morning. specifically the midwest. oklahoma city, wichita cans, goowe're highlighting the area f oklahoma at this and wichita. this is what you would see if you were driving. be careful on the roadways, it won't slow down because it can be clear and then all of a sudden you can run into this. in reduced visibility advisory remains in affect.

the satellite radar tracking other storms. we'll have that later. >> after months of harsh criticism the obama administration announced it has met it's deadline to get the healthcare.gov website working but they warn it's still in progress. >> the bottom line of healthcare.gov from december 1st is night and day from where it was on octobe october 1st. >> fixing the website that was originally bogged down with hundreds of bugs. the white house said dramatic progress has been made with this site now performing with private sectors. this site has a lower error rate with capacity to handle 50,000 visit hvisitors at once. if it's busy there is a virtual waiting room that will e-mail you when it's less crowded. >> 50,000 people at one time.

800,000 people a day. look, this is going to take some time before it's up and kicking in full gear. >> reporter: for some republicans the problem is with obamacare itself. >> you have 15% of the pollalation that didn't have health insurance when it started, and we think that number was high. we think it was closer to 10. they disrupted it for the 85% who had healthcare and their costs are going up significantly. so we have broken the system to help a few. nobody would fix a problem that way. >> reporter: even supporters of healthcare.gov admit there is still a lot of room for improvement but say both sides of the aisle must meet in the middle to fix it. >> i have in my pocket right here, the erik can't for issued this playbook against obamacare the other day. they're not trying to work with us to try to address these issues. yes there are problems. there is no denying that. let's work to fix them. >> reporter: while the white house said enromment has jumped were 30% to 80% it's still

calling the site a work in progress. al jazeera, new york. >> for the first time same-sex couples are marrying today in hawai'i. ceremonies started at midnight. officials hope the change will boost annual tourism revenues by as much as $200 million. hawai'i was the seventh state to legalize same sex images this year. vice president joe biden has arrived in japan. and will also visit china and south korea. the vice president will also try to diffuse tensions between china and japan over china's air defense zone in the china seas. anti-government demonstration versus taken a violent turn in thailand. police firing water canons and rubber bullets as protesters try

to force their way into government buildings. the prime minister said she will meemeet with protesters but cant meet demands. >> this time the rubbish truck was used to break through the concrete barriers erected by the police. it's and it's pop ants were forced into a quick retreat, tear gas spewing from the cab. it seems some people on the streets are willing to go to extremes to achieve their goal. they want the government and prime minister gone. they spoke with the media the day after meeting with the protest leader. she said she's willing to do anything to end the cries. but the idea of an unelected people's council running the country is unconstitutional. >> last night after we met him we found out he isn't interested in the resignation of the prime minister nor does he want to

dissolve the parliament. he wants me to return the power of the prime minister to the people. i don't know how to proceed with this offer because this provision does not exist under constitution allah. so that's why it doesn't mean that we say no. but this negotiation we don't know how to make it happen. >> in the meantime the immediate aims of those fighting here are far clearer and more specific. >> in areas like this it is not a crowded dispersal operation. it is a case of protest urgency using whatever and doing whatever they can to push inside that area. and the police are holding their lines. >> reporter: as well as tear gas, rubble bullets and water canons laced with chemicals are being used. anyone being caught unprepared is brought to a standstill. the fans to plow away the tear gas and plastic bags so she don't breathe it in. they show no signs giving up but

the assault shows little head way. >> three people were killed over the weekend there and dozens more have been injured in the protest. it's a similar situation in ukraine where under government protests enter a second week. hundreds of demonstrators are camped out in kiev occupying government buildings and blocking the main square. they're angry over the president's refusal to sign trade agreements with the e.u. we have more from kiev. >> reporter: as you can see independent square behind me is still full of protesters. they've been blockading this square, making sure that all the police barriers that were used to keep them out of the square are now used by them to keep the police out. all the government buildings in kiev are also being blockaded. president yanukovych talked to his advisers in his country retreat outside of kiev. there has been one development at the initiative of the parliamentary speaker. there were round table talks between the government and

opposition leaders. the only thing that came out of that was the demand by the opposition that parliament should dissolve the cabinet tomorrow. that's unlikely to happen, of course, because president yanukovych has got the majority in that parliament. but the stand off here is very much continuing. newses will on the nationwide general strike that's being called, three declared areas in the west of the country, the western ukraine right on the border with europe have actually come out in response to that call, and we expect more to join them as the day continues and as the week continues. >> reporting from the ukraine. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has had his first audience with pope francis. the pope met with the israeli leader at the vatican this morning. they reportedly discussed iran's nuclear program and the peace process. netanyahu invited the pontiff to visit israel. and he'll also meet with italy's

prime minister today. black friday is over, but cyber monday is in full swing.

>> it's cyber monday. spending online is expected to smash records even though many americans will be on the job. the survey discovered half of all workers plan holiday shopping while they're on the clock. more than a third say they'll spend an hour or more shopping at work. buyer wear, 7% of human resource managers say they fired an employee for holiday shopping. and few placing will be as busy as the amazon.com fulfillment centers. >> reporter: forget shop until you drop, today it's click until you quit. cyber monday is expected to bring in some $2 billion in sales. >> we do think that this holiday will be our best ever. >> reporter: at the amazon.com fulfillment center it's boxes as far as the eye can see and

people and machines working in tandem to get them all packed, addressed and out the door. >> we're hiring more seasonal workers than we did last year. >> reporter: companies like fedex estimate they'll send out 22 million passage. >> we have to plan for it year round, but we're ready. >> reporter: cyber monday in 2005 was first coined by the division of the retail federation. then it was just the tenth busiest online sales day. but fast forward, it's excepted to be number begin a lot of stores have good promotions online. >> reporter: consumers realizing the advantage of knocking off their holiday shopping lists with just a few key strokes. >> it seems some people are already grabbed deals online over the weekend. we have numbers showing how much was spent online before today's big rush.

thanksgiving internet sales were up 21% from last year to $75 billion. on black friday hitting $1.2 billion. the increase was 18% compared to last year. but even with those gains plus deep discounts and longer store hours holiday shopping slumped during thanksgiving weekend. the decline is the first since the recession in 2009. total spending in stores and online fell by 4% compared to last year. that's according to the national retail federation. purchases in stores fell by 9%. 141 million americans shopped in stores or online in the four-day span. well, the record-setting run on wall street continues to cool after falling. the dow was down again losing 28 points at the moment. the canadian province of ontario is closing it's last coal fire power station. environmentalists view it as a

huge step forward but some consumers are not convinced. >> reporter: one the biggest producer of coal fired energy, it will soon close. at times half the province's power came from here, but what comes out of the chimney changed what will happen next year. >> it's 50% nuclear. 25% hydro. it's about 15% gas, and then the rest is a mix of wind, solar, bio mass, that kind of thing. >> just an illustration of the era ending here, once this area had more than 2 million tons of coal piled high. now it's almost gone. and the view that's left behind is of the type of energy that this part of canada thinks just might power its future. >> reporter: ontario's government encouraged private investors to build hundreds of wind turbines.

it's clean and green, but the high cost of power from wind and sun has consumers like retired teacher longing for the days of coal. >> i'm all for keeping the air clean, but wind is never going to replace what coal could produce. and it's just so costly. >> reporter: as canada's manufacturing heartland, ontario needs power. the switch to cleaner energy could hurt an economy still recovering from the last recession. of course, coal does have emissions and you know, there are important issues, but we never really got focused on how to fix those. it was just throw it all out. >> mr. speaker. >> power and politics in ontario's parliament where there has been fierce criticism on its emphasis on green energy and it costs. the architects of the plans

defend it ro robustly. >> you take all the costs involved, it ends up being cost effective. >> ontario's greenhouse gas emissions are lower as it becomes the first place in north america to give up coal. what isn't clear is whether local voters will agree with their government in fighting climate change is worth paying more for power. >> letting kids be kids. coming up, clowns put on a show for children in a syrian refugee camp.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are today's top headlines. thousands of new york city commuters had to find other ways to get to work after a trail derailed sunday just outside of manhattan. investigators have recovered the train's data recorders and are

trying to determine the cause of the accident that left four dead and dozens injured. the obama administration said it has met it's deadline to fix the healthcare.gov website. iit is cyber monday. millions will be clicking the mouse to grab major deals on the internet. spending online is expected to smash records and many americans will be shopping on the job. >> meteorologist: i'm meteorology dave warren. this is the story developing the pacific northwest. this will impact the entire country day by day. the moyes coming in from the ocean, hitting the mountains in the northwest, dumping a lot of snow especially in the higher elevations. and then that junior of snow pushing south. the winter storm warne warning e

panhandle of idaho and montana. there is snow coming down, and you can see that by the camera from lookout pass. this is between montana and idaho along interstate 90. the snow coming down a foot and most likely more to come as this area of snow sags south. now there are showers in the cascades with rain and snow. snow in the rockies and all of this moisture continuing to push south as cold air moves in from the north. that is a big change with our weather pattern over the next few days. here is this area of snow threw idaho and utah and that will continue to mover southeast of the rockies in eastern montana. as this storms develops it will bring a lot of cold air into the pacific northwest. you have the 36 degrees in billings, denver 50. fog will clear out in oklahoma and texas, but then the storm causes problems by wednesday and thursday. here's the big pattern change. cold air is across the west on

wednesday. the warm air being drawn up from the south. the temperatures will be climbing until the front moves through. now there will be moyes coming in to that cold air. look what happens. it's not really wednesday but thursday throughout the day. this is a large area of freezing rain, the fog, and we see ice accumulating by thursday and friday. the temperatures in new york climbing into the upper 50s before that rain moves in by friday and saturday. stephanie? >> dave warren, thank you. finally at this hour, comedic relief for syrian children living far from home. a clown group affiliated with the u.s. base clowns without boarders. children say they attended a wonderful time. 40% of people living in the camp are children. i'm stephanie sy.

inside story.is next. you can catch us any time on www.aljazeera.com. merger that will plenty two airlines into the bigger carrier in the nation. what that means to you, the consumer, is our "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. turkey and travel go together. this thanksgiving season its estimated 25 million people will be in the air. and according to an airline industry trade group we're all paying less in real dollars than op did in 2000, but you had more